We are Grace Halliday, 41, a freelance producer, and I live with my partner Luke Morris, 39, who works in IT support, and our cat, Maggie.
Where we live… A three-bedroom Victorian semi-detached house in Chorlton, Manchester, which we bought in December 2021. You can follow our renovation journey on Instagram @fromlondontomanchester.
After living in London for nine years, Grace Halliday and Luke Morris decided to start a new chapter of their lives, 200 miles away in south Manchester. ‘We wanted a bigger house and a bit of a change,’ says Grace. ‘Some friends had moved to Manchester a few years prior and during lockdown we just decided to go for it.’ As an actress, who now works in freelance event management and oversees press junkets, Grace is used to travelling for work, so wasn’t fazed by a big move, and Luke could do his IT role from home. Having completely renovated their two-bedroom 1970s excouncil flat in Hackney, it sold within 24 hours and the pair could begin house hunting.
In their search for a three-bedroom Victorian house with a decent-sized garden, the couple viewed around 25 properties before finding their home in Chorlton. ‘It ticked a lot of boxes in terms of location, size and garden, and I loved that it still had the original fireplaces in two of the bedrooms,’ says Grace. ‘However, it had been completely modernised to sell – every wall was painted grey and I’m not a grey person.’
The big appeal for Luke was that it had new electrics, a new kitchen, and freshly plastered walls, so they could move in and make decorative changes gradually. Luckily, Luke’s brother, Adam, who owns Wall Panelling by AJ, was able to work on the house in the first few weeks, while the couple moved in with his parents in nearby Warrington. ‘He was amazing and removed all the carpets, reinstated picture rails and completely changed the heating system to cast-iron radiators,’ says Grace. ‘He must have saved us thousands of pounds.’
To make up for the lack of storage, alcove wardrobes were added to the two bigger bedrooms, along with alcove cabinetry in the living and dining room. As some of the floorboards had been patched over with hardwood then covered with carpet, there was much remedial work needed before they could get the floorboards sanded. When the hall was tiled, some of the floorboards were reused in the living room, while the shiny, orangey laminate flooring in the kitchen diner was replaced with herringbone-style LVT.
Decorating the living room
The first space they decorated was the south-facing living room. ‘We had a dark green living room in our last flat and I loved it,’ says Grace. ‘It felt really cosy and inviting, plus it worked in summer and winter.’ Before long, every trace of grey was banished from the house. The guest bedroom became dark and moody with pops of yellow; the office was decked out in mustard, red and green; and the main bedroom was livened up with a mix of terracotta, pink, green and blue.
Grace’s paint of choice is Farrow & Ball’s modern emulsion. ‘I’ve done colour matches in the past but wasn’t that impressed,’ she says. ‘I know it’s a lot of money to spend but it’s 90% of what you see when you walk in a room so I think it’s sometimes worth splashing out on.’ The trickiest choice was finding an off-white shade for the hallway. ‘I can pick out a really bold colour no problem, but neutrals are the hardest colour to get right because they’re not my usual thing,’ explains Grace. ‘I must’ve tried more tester pots for the hallway than for the rest of the house!’
Redesigning the kitchen
The kitchen colour palette also inspired much debate, as it had to work with the brand-new navy units installed by the previous owners. ‘They were a bit too modern for my taste, but we’ve added an island, replaced the laminate worktops with white granite and added softness with wooden shelves,’ says Grace. ‘As the room is really dark, we chose Setting Plaster, which makes it feel cosier.’ With their budget fast depleting, they gave the bathroom a glow-up for just £600.
‘It looked really clinical as there were so many white tiles everywhere,’ says Grace. After replacing the shiny laminate flooring with a checkerboard vinyl and painting the walls dark green, the couple created a bath panel from MDF, which they painted pink. ‘At some point we’d like to get a clawfoot tub, so we wanted to see what it would look like with a different colour on the front,’ she says. ‘Eventually, I’d love really bold tiles, half panelling in a contrasting colour and an amazing sink with built-in storage.’
With a love of colour and a knack for creating eclectic interiors, Grace’s look is hard to pigeonhole. Each room has a vintage element, whether it’s furniture, artwork or ceramics, and she also likes to include an unexpected splash of red to energise a space. A touch of red on lampshades, cushions, prints and vases – often in the form of stripes – give her schemes a lift without overpowering them. ‘I like it when things seem like they shouldn’t work, but somehow they do!’ she says.
In future, she plans to make a moodboard for each space before decorating. ‘I was impatient to get everything finished so I just went with colours I felt were right and then worked everything else around them, which I wouldn’t recommend,’ she says. ‘For instance, I love the living room, but if I’d given it more thought, I would’ve taken the colour all over the ceiling and above the picture rail as well.’
Grace also admits she struggled with the main bedroom. ‘It was tricky trying to create a colour scheme that worked with a terracotta ceiling and pink walls,’ she explains. ‘I also wish we’d gone for a king-size bed instead of a super king, so we could’ve had the space to add a window seat.’
After two years in the house, Grace and Luke are still finding their feet, but are pleased they made the move from London to Manchester. It still doesn’t fully feel like home here yet,’ says Grace. ‘I was born and bred in London and, although Luke is a Northerner, he’s lived in London longer than he’s ever lived up north. We’re still trying to find our favourite restaurants, bars and shops, but I’m sure we will in time, and we’ve done well with getting the house just how we want it.’
